Red
by Resident Quetzal
Summary: Red. It was red, red everywhere." The war had gone on for far too long, and it was up to Sir Integra Hellsing to put an end to the Major's insanity. Pseudo Ending. Manga spoilers up to Chapter 94. Mild AxI, IxS friendship. Part III of III posted!
1. Part I: Exposition

**Title:** Red

**Summary:** "Red. It was red, red everywhere." The war had gone on for far too long, and it was up to Sir Integra Hellsing to put an end to the Major's insanity.

**Pairings:** mild AlucardxIntegra, also can be seen as a purely platonic relationship if you're not a fan of this pairing. SerasxIntegra friendship/comradeship

**Warnings: Spoilers **abound for the manga up to the end.

**Disclaimers:** Hellsing is owned Hirano Kouta. If I had his art skills and his license I'd be off making my own Hellsing anime instead of penning down my daydreams in the form of fanfics.

**A/N:** This is meant to be a prelude to a fic which I have yet to post, though in a way it is also my version of Hellsing's final ending (yes, I've read the end, but I won't spoil it... much). I'm racing against time to get this up before Chapter 95 is translated, though I'm sure that news has started leaking out already. Forgive me for any OOC-ness encountered because this is my first fic in this fandom, and I'm still feeling my way around here. This follows every event in the manga, however things start deviating from mid-Chapter 93, 94-ish, though I've made use of certain aspects from the more recent chapters.

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Key:  
"Speech"  
"_Thought-speech_"  
_Thought_

German translations can be found at the bottom of the page.

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_**Red (Part I of III).**_

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Red. There was nothing but red; the red of blazing fire, the red of the rising sun, the red of flowing blood.

She blinked away the crimson haze that engulfed her vision and stared into the unholy visage of that goddamned Major, who was grinning smugly behind his barrier of glass.

"That bastard Doc, he made the glass too strong," the man chuckled. "I'm sure even the little vampire _mädchen _would be hard pressed to break it, don't you agree, Sir Hellsing?"

Integra glared, pausing to swipe of the new trails of blood that flowed from the wound above her eye and threatened to clog her vision again. She looked into his eyes, alight with the excitement that the battlefield brought, and felt that she had never wanted another man's death more than his. Her cerulean eyes were a contrast to his, icy and assessing as they zoomed in upon the cobwebbed pattern at the top of the barrier.

"Fire, Seras!" she ordered and pointed, the gesture as strong and swift as an arrow released from the bow. "Finish him! _Search and destroy, _Seras Victoria!"

"Yes, Sir!" the young draculina obeyed her commander by extending her shadow arm through the metal floor of the Zeppelin. A split second later, a hole was blasted open as she yanked a massive gun from the depths of the airship. Swinging it up as if it weighed no more than a normal pistol, Seras crouched and fired, and a thunderous boom rang out.

"_Acht, acht,_" the Major laughed softly, delightfully, "88mm! Such an excellent choice! I love it!"

He would have said more, but the shell pierced through the barrier akin to the way a shaft of light pierced through water, hitting him square on his left torso. The thick glass around him shattered into a million pieces, and the downdraught of the bullet coupled with the impact of the hit raised a strong gust of air that scattered the crystalline slivers around the room. Seras leapt in front of Integra and extended her shadows around them both, while the latter merely surveyed the destruction with cool indifference.

"Well, it would look like the old warmonger still has a few tricks up his sleeves," the female knight observed.

The spot within the remains of the barrier was empty, save for a now-destroyed entrance to a passage that no doubt led to elsewhere on the zeppelin.

"What do we do now, Sir?" Seras asked, throwing the spent cannon over her shoulders and into the display monitors behind.

"Weren't you listening?" Integra replied with mild annoyance, though that might have been due to the numerous strands of blond hair that blew into her face. She deftly flicked them over her ear. "I said 'Search and destroy'. The mission has yet to be accomplished."

She turned, coattails flapping, and faced the burning doorway which marked their exit. Her right hand rested lightly on the hilt of her saber and a blackened cigar was clasped between the digits of her left. The cigar fell into the flames and was consumed without a trace.

"Follow me into the fires in of hell, Seras Victoria.

"And please try your best to keep up."

The vampire smiled, though there was a bittersweet twinge in her heart at those words which sounded so familiar and yet so foreign. "Yes, Sir!"

They sprinted through the flaming doorway and pass rooms that were collapsed or on the verge of being reduced to smoking cinders. Perhaps they would have shed some light on the enigma that was Millennium, but the pair had no eyes but for the way laid out before them and no time for frivolities such as the studying of the enemy's psyche. That could wait till after the battle, if there was anything left to study.

Only once did Integra pause. The knight stopped abruptly in the middle of the hallway, in front of a broken-down door that opened to reveal a small room. Sheets of papers covered the floor, over which lay many overturned cabinets and tables, mostly streaked with blood both old and new. The room was already in flames, and the smoke was getting too thick for either woman to see beyond the first few feet past the door. Still, perhaps through some form of sixth sense, they both knew what had transpired within.

"Walter…" a whispered name escaped from Integra's lips.

Seras turned anxious red eyes to her commander. "Sir Integra, did Mr. Walter… did he…?"

"Walter has passed on," Integra replied, staring steadfastly into the burning room despite the billowing smoke that poured from it. Her head wound was bleeding again, but she did not seem to notice.

Seras allowed her lower lip to tremble before she quashed the torrent of feelings that threatened to escape her.

"Yes, he did," she answered quietly, ignoring the red streaks than ran down the drawn face of her superior; ignoring the fact that the flowing blood was mixed with something else that traced shinning paths from that pair of pale blue eyes. "We should go."

"Wait."

That uncharacteristic hesitation brought Seras to a startled halt. But the unformed question in her mind was answered when she saw Integra dash into the room and reemerge staggering slightly while clutching a black case. The older woman's nimble fingers danced over the number-lock, scrolling through the combinations with a practiced a fluid motion, and soon Seras' sharp ears picked up a 'click'.

"This…!" Her words were interrupted by a gasp, and Integra seemed to be similarly surprised, though she also donned a satisfied expression as if she had predicted the contents of the case.

Lying on a cushioned surface in the box was a magnificent gun, black as the night and gleaming like the rays of the moon. It was long, around thirty-nine centimeters, and Seras did not need another look to also know that it would weigh sixteen kilograms, with a 13mm caliber and that it was capable of loading six rounds within its chambers. After all, it was the exact gun that she had grown accustomed to seeing, wielded by her Master. She was sure that Integra was aware of the gun's identity.

The only thing in stark contrast with the gun that she knew was that this one was as dark as obsidian and equally unmarred. There was nothing of the words "Jesus Christ is in Heaven now" that should have been engraved on its side.

"How?" she wondered aloud. "I thought it had been destroyed when Master fought Mr. Walter…?"

"Precisely," Integra answered simply. She raised a gloved hand. In it was a cracked device that resembled a remote control. Her thumb underlined a single button with the word "JACAL" printed beside it. "It makes me wonder how long has Walter been in cahoots with Millennium.

"The gun that your Master had was custom-made by Walter, and I never thought to question whether he might have snuck in another self-destructing chip into it. Of course, I never stopped to wonder then if my faithful butler was collaborating with the enemy on the sly. It cost Alucard his favourite weapon, and his quick victory in their fight."

Seras chose to ignore the fact that Integra had not mentioned that it also cost her Master his life. But then she didn't want to admit it either.

"Millennium made Master's gun," she realised. "And if that gun was destroyed by them…"

"Yes," Integra replied grimly. "This is the _real_ Jackal. What they gave Alucard was a mere imitation, as it is with everything they have created."

The platinum-blond-haired woman bent down and lifted the gun with some difficulty. She slid an accompanying magazine into it and strapped it to her side holster. Seras stepped forward tentatively but fell back again when Integra glanced at her and shook her head.

"Let's go, we've wasted enough time as it is."

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_**End Part I.**_

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Translation:  
_mädchen_ - girl  
_acht_ - eight

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**A/N: **Hope that didn't turn out too badly. This started off as a one-shot, but I decided to split it into 3 parts for easier reading. The Major has no accent because I can't write them without making them sound too cheesy, not to mention unintelligible. And the reappearance of the Jackal is important, because it plays a key role in this ficverse of mine (yes, I know that I am bad, taking advantage of Hirano-sensei's romanji translation like that).

Tell me what you think,_ bitte recht_?

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-Resident Quetzal


	2. Part II: Climax

**Disclaimer: **As usual, Hirano-sensei owns Hellsing and I am merely borrowing his characters to fulfill my fangirl needs.

**A/N: **And here's the next portion, where all the action takes place. The main fighting starts and finishes here, with Alucard and Integra action inserted at the cost of Seras' airtime (I'm sorry, Seras). Incidentally, the Major calls Seras all kinds of names because I thought that'd be something he would do, considering that he called her a 'young lady', or possibly 'fräulein', in the manga. You find that several motivations and reasoning behind each character have been compromised or altered, because I chose to follow along with Walter's idea that "Everything Millennium creates is an imitation", leading to the eventual fall of the organisation. That, and the Major's obsession with killing Alucard.

I'd also like to thank **chickentyrant5 **for adding 'Red' to your favourites list, and for taking the time to read this fic. Thanks much.

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Key:  
"Speech"  
"_Thought-speech_"  
_Thought_

German translations can be found at the bottom of the page.

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**From Part I...**

_**-**_

_The platinum-blond-haired woman bent down and lifted the gun with some difficulty. She slid an accompanying magazine into it and strapped it to her side holster. Seras stepped forward tentatively but fell back again when Integra glanced at her and shook her head._

"_Let's go, we've wasted enough time as it is."_

* * *

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_**Red (Part II of III).**_

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When they found the Major, he was collapsed outside another battered door. The flames had not yet reached this part of the airship yet, but all knew that they were approaching fast. There was no more time for any further rematches. The war had to end here. If it ended at all.

"And so you have found me once again, Sir Hellsing." He was crouched on the floor, with only his right side visible. Still, the glimmer reflected by his glasses and the eyes behind them only made him look all the more dangerous, like a cornered, rabid animal. "The Huntress has found her prey. But not all kinds of prey can be hunted, _ja_? Lest it strikes back when you least expect it."

He pounced; an astonishingly quick move for one of such rotund stature. Integra raised her sword, but felt it deflect off something exceptionally hard. The next thing she knew, she was slammed to the wall forcefully and her limbs were pinned to her side by an unknown force. A sharp pressure on her wrist forced her to release her sword, which fell with a clatter. A quick look to her side showed that Seras had also experienced a similar attack.

When she returned her eyes to the Major, he had stepped out into the flickering light cast by the fire. Involuntarily, her eyes widened as she caught sight of his full profile.

The Major was… a cyborg. It was the only term that could adequately describe him. On the surface, he bore the appearance of a human, but on his left side Integra saw that his outer covering had been blown off, only to reveal a mass of wires, gears and computer circuitry in an assortment of size, shape and colour. They flashed, sizzled and beeped in a way that made the figure before her a disturbing sight. The very human face twisted into a malevolent smile while in his lower body the cogs whirred and clicked in order to facilitate his movement.

"So that, _that_ is what you are, Major!" Integra spat.

"This? Ah, indeed, this is what I am."

A strangled gurgle told Integra that Seras had also seen what she had. "You're a… machine!"

"Machine? _Nein_, please don't insult me, _vampirkind_, I am absolutely human. There is only one thing that defines a human, and that is their will. So long as I retain my soul, heart and hence, will, I will always be human despite what my appearance may be.

"That is why I truly detest the _nosferatu_. They are nothing more than soul-stealing parasites! No matter what form they take, they are still monsters. But I, I am a human who takes on the appearance of a monster."

Integra clenched her fists and narrowed her eyes.

_How dare he?_ She thought. _How dare he lower _us_ to _his _standard? And he dares to call himself a human!_

The female knight risked testing her unseen bonds and found that they would not break. Seras moaned softly on the ground and Integra saw her losing consciousness, pinned to the ground and limp with fatigue. Something had drained her strength or rendered it powerless.

"And what devilry is this, Major?" she growled.

"Oh, a little of this and that," he replied dismissively. "It's nothing that your family does not know. _Herr _Helsing is a famous man even in our beloved motherland, and his techniques are rather widespread amongst certain circles."

She noticed that he was holding a spherical object in his hand. Though the lighting was bad and she had blood running down her eye she could still make out its general shape. It was a skull. A skull with a plaque etched onto its side. One single word was carved into it in capitals: "MINA".

Then she knew. Why had she not thought of it before? Legend had said that Mina Harker had been freed from Dracula's curse upon the death of the Count. But Dracula had not died during his final clash with Abraham van Helsing, and had instead been bonded to the latter's bloodline as a servant. This meant that Mina had never been released from the effects of the vampire blood in her veins. It was no wonder that Millennium had exhumed her remains and sought to use it for their experimentations. Integra felt a twinge of pity for the woman who was long dead. In the end, Mina Harker was simply a tool for Millennium to obtain their ultimate goal: Alucard. Always hungering after what they could never have, they tried to use the vampyric blood in her to create another Count. Like vampires they drained her dry and ground her bones to dust so that they could use that in their making of cheap imitations. When experiment after experiment failed to succeed, they eventually turned their attention to Alucard's destruction.

_Like spoiled children, they do not allow others to possess what they cannot have,_ Integra thought. _And Mina was just like the people of London, my troops, and even Iscariot and the Convention of Twelve; caught in the middle of this private vendetta between two forces of insanity._

Perhaps the Major had considered Hellsing Organisation amongst those hangers-on, though she knew better. Her fate as a Hellsing had been carved into stone from the very day that Abraham van Helsing bested Count Dracula. When the Major had declared war against Alucard, he had also inadvertently declared war against his master, for the link between human and vampire was so strong that it tied the destinies of both firmly to each other. And so it was up to her to end this pathetic spat that had gone on for far too long.

The Major had used some form of alchemy to conjure up the last vestiges of power that lay in Mina's remains. That had been why Seras was incapacitated so easily; a fledgling is hard-pressed to fight against the blood of her sire. However, Integra was different. She was Alucard's master, and the master of the most powerful vampire to walk the earth will not bow down to an ersatz prototype. Mina was but a shade of Alucard's true powers. She might have his blood, but she could never measure up to the sheer strength and force that he possessed. And neither could Millennium, because after all, one cannot create the original from an inferior copy.

With a powerful wrench, Integra ripped her arm from the wall, ignoring the splitting pain in her shoulder that accompanied the action. She repeated the same action with her other arm, and caught a glimpse of faint shadowy bonds disintegrating into nothingness. This also freed her legs, and she turned upon the Major. With gleaming golden hair wreathing her face and her blue eyes blazing with an icy flame, she cut an imposing figure against the backdrop of death and destruction. Her sword gleamed silver and gold in the fire.

The Major rose and smiled.

"Perfect!" he cried gaily. "Splendid! I did not think that you would have strength enough to overcome my final resistance. Even the _mädchen_ could not, though she is _vampir_. This is a testimony to your fortitude. Very well, you have won this match, Sir Hellsing. Kill me. I have nothing left to fight you with."

Integra snarled silently, understanding the meaning behind the Major's words.

_You have won this match, but I have won the war. You will give meaning to my death. It will be a glorious death, to die beneath your blade. I will not simply die. I will die for **something more**__._

"You are not human," she hissed. "I will not give you the death that you seek. You do not deserve it."

Swiftly, she sheathed the blade and reached to her side, withdrawing the Jackal. She gripped its midnight black handle with both hands and pointed it steadily at the Nazi's forehead.

The Major saw her new weapon and laughed incredulously. "This? So you have found it after all. I should have expected no less. But that is not a weapon for you to wield. Come now, Sir Hellsing, draw your sword. It is unseemly to use the arms of another."

Integra merely fixed him with a cold stare, though her arms were already starting to sing with protest. Still, she tightened her grip and locked her elbows, and reached for the trigger. The Major saw this, and for a moment his smile fell.

"This is absurd. You are still clinging on to the past, to weakness, to foolishness. Perhaps I had been wrong to recognise you as my enemy. Perhaps you are still a _fräulein_."

"Wrong?" Integra smiled tightly. "Quite the contrary. You should have recognised me as your enemy when you first decided to play your war games."

She tried to pull the trigger, but the distance from her fingers was just a little too great, and the hammer too stiff. She gritted her teeth and tried again.

Suddenly, there was silence. There was no noise at all, even though the Major was going on with his rant. There should have been the crackling and hissing of the approaching flames, or the creaking and groaning of the metal frames of the zeppelin as in fell apart. Instead, there was nothing. There was no sound at all in the still air, and Integra felt a chill run up her spine.

"_And how fares my dear Master?_" a disturbingly familiar voice echoed in her mind.

Her throat abruptly went dry. She fancied she caught sight of the ends of a red ascot flapping in the wind, but the vision vanished soon after she registered it.

"_Why, no reply? Are you perhaps, speechless with shock? With joy? Or are you having too much fun toying with the Major with that unwieldy gun?_"

"_It's your gun too, you know. At least, it should have been,_" she shot back mentally.

"_Ah, but I did not say that it was unwieldy for _me."

She felt his presence approach her but did not turn around. She couldn't afford to. The Major was still grinning that warped smile and her muscles were aching most terribly.

"_Look, if you're done with distracting me you could shoot him._" She did not know what possessed her to say that, but she did so anyway. "_Since you seem to fire the Jackal with such ease._"

"_Of course_."

Integra felt him sidle up until he was directly behind her. Somewhere at the back of her mind, she knew that he should not, _could not _have been right there, so close to her that she could almost touch him. But now she was riding on the tide of battle and her focus was narrowed in only on her weapon and her enemy. There was only the dull roar in her head and the pounding blood that burned in her veins, crying out for death and vindication.

Still, illusion or not, her servant's gloved hands felt uncannily corporeal as they covered her own, steadying her grip on the Jackal. The throbbing pain in her arms immediately ceased as he bore the brunt of the gun's weight, guiding her arms gently so that they pointed the weapon directly at the Major's forehead. Integra felt a rush of blood again and she saw the sigils on his glove glow a dark red.

"_I will kill without the slightest hesitation_." His voice came so close to her ear that she knew that he was bent over her, his head almost nuzzling her neck, and that his lips were curled up in that infernal smirk that revealed too much teeth. "_I will beat them to death without the slightest regret. This is because I am a monster; yours to use and yours to command. I will serve, I will shield, and I will kill as you demand._

"_I will wield the gun. I will take aim. I will load the ammunition in the magazine, slide it in, and remove the safety. I will even pull the trigger, and take all the attacks that your enemies throw at me. I am ready, Integra, so let me know your intent. Give me my orders, my Master_."

"_Old words, Servant. Do you still question my resolve even now_?"The Hellsing knight smiled and, with his aid, raised the Jackal. He drew closer to her in a flurry of crimson, in a manner that was almost protective, and together they held the gun. "_The search is over. Destroy._"

The bullet burst from the gun with a bang and ripped through the Major's skull. He fell down with a clatter, sending bits of mechanical parts rolling over the floor. With one side destroyed, his glasses slid off his face, revealing a strangely blank visage devoid of any lingering emotion. Integra was vindictively satisfied that he had not died smiling.

_Human? Bah! He was an abomination, a monster_, she thought in disgust. To think that this pointless war had been wrought because one man had refused to relinquish his obsession. _He gave in to the temptation of power and changed himself to achieve his ends, not unlike some others that we are acquainted with, don't you agree, Alucard?_

Her Servant's arms were still around her, his hands were still encasing hers and she suspected that he had all but wrapped her up in that garish red coat that he was so fond of wearing, in their closeness.

"_Then the world is rid of another monster, credits to you, my lady,_" he purred. "_The knight hath slewn another drakkor_."

The lines of the objects surrounding her blurred as haziness shrouded her vision. She sucked in a shuddering breath and narrowed her eyes at the Major's crumpled form.

"May your soul be damned to the deepest level of Purgatory, Major," she muttered as her strength seemed to leak from her limbs, leaving them heavy and leaden. "I wouldn't like to meet you again when I pass through the gates of Hell."

The red presence that had suffused her faded, and she soon lost track of her surroundings as her sight forsook her. The Jackal was like a dead weight in her hand though she refused to let it go despite its strain on her fingers. Oblivious to the panicked cries of Seras, who had just regained consciousness, Integra slipped from the waking world and fell into empty, welcoming darkness, where silence reigned and fire and brimstone no longer plagued her vision.

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_**End Part II.**_

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Translation:

_ja_ - yes  
_nein_ - no  
_vampirkind_ - vampire child  
_nosferatu_ - a term for vampire, or the Devil  
_herr_ - term of address, similar to 'Mr.' or 'Sir', or gentleman  
_vampir_ - vampire  
_fräulein_ - term of address, similar to "Miss", or young lady

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**A/N: **Well, that's that. Hellsing quotes for the win, heh.

**A few plotholes to address:**__The Major somehow had time to pick up Mina's skull from the room of The Shi after Walter and the Doctor killed each other. That's why he ran away at first. Also, the Major never truly recognised Integra as his enemy (he only challenged Alucard in his first 'declaration') until she gave the order to Alucard to kill Walter, which is pretty silly if you ask me because a Master that Alucard would willingly serve would be a truly challenging opponent; someone not to be underestimated. And it is possible for Integra to faint at the end because she's only human, and there's only so much that our bodies can take before we collapse. She's been through hours running on adrenaline and battle rush, not to mention the fact that she's bleeding, and she just strained herself by using a weapon meant for a vampire. Integra is incredibly strong, but sometimes it is possible for one's body to shut down without warning once it's had enough. As for why the Major didn't see Alucard... well... I'll go to that in detail soon.

Ramblings aside, I hope you enjoyed this installment. Only one more to go!

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-Resident Quetzal


	3. Part III: Resolution

**Disclaimer: **Hellsing belongs to Hirano Kouta. Unless I save up enough money to buy the license from him and his publishers (and hire him to draw a sequel for good measure...)

**A/N: **And here's the last installment, with some AxI thrown in. It's been a good run, albeit rather brief, and ffnet has been most annoying with the formatting. Stay tuned for the random ramblings next chapter if you want a few things explained, such as Alucard's return.

Once again, thanks to **chickentyrant5**, **Kitsune Moonstar** and **Master of the Boot **for the review, favs and alerts. Your support is very much appreciated 8)

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Key:  
"Speech"  
"_Thought-speech_"  
_Thought_

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**-**

**From Part II...**

**-**

_The red presence that had suffused her faded, and she soon lost track of her surroundings as her sight forsook her. The Jackal was like a dead weight in her hand though she refused to let it go despite its strain on her fingers. Oblivious to the panicked cries of Seras, who had just regained consciousness, Integra slipped from the waking world and fell into empty, welcoming darkness, where silence reigned and fire and brimstone no longer plagued her vision._

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_**Red (Part III of III).**_

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London was in ruins. When Seras had staggered out of the burning zeppelin, an unconscious Integra in tow, she had gazed in disbelief and awe as she took in, for the first time, the entirety of the damage wrought upon the city. For a moment she was at lost as to what to do and could only drink in the desolate sight before her eyes.

Then, Integra, whom she was supporting with her arm that still retained its form, stirred slightly. Seras hurriedly flexed her left arm into shape should her commander need additional aid, but the other woman did not stumble nor sag in weakness. She cracked open her eyes and raised her head, seemingly gazing around at the city that was still London, though its mighty buildings now lay in rubble and its streets were now washed in blood.

"Sir Integra?" the young Draculina asked, slightly disconcerted. A thread of doubt wormed into her mind, though she firmly ignored it. Yet it still lingered, like a leech that refused to relinquish its grip until it had been sated.

Integra Hellsing was strong. This Seras Victoria understood as much. Coming to terms with her vampyric nature had only allowed her to see the true extent of her commander's strength, because Integra positively shone amidst a sea of humans and all manner of beings whose souls only burned a weak and dulled light, metaphorically speaking, of course, though it was hardly a step further from the truth. That must have been what her Master had seen all along, in the long years that he had served _his_ Master.

However, a predator knows its prey down to the very depths of its intricate existence. It would hence make sense that a vampire would know of humans; which was all the better to hunt them and all the better to kill them. The archaic mind of Seras-the-vampire told her that humans were inherently weak and susceptible to the flaws of mortality. And that was the reason for the concern that her retained humanity thrust upon her mind.

Would _this_ human be any different? Would she still remain standing tall and proud as the rush of adrenaline left her veins, leaving her empty in the wake of battle? Would she succumb to the vulnerabilities of her kind?

Apparently not. Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing was quite unlike the rest of her species, and she was hardly one to back down from a challenge, even an unissued one. Her eyes did not hold the wild light of the hunt any more, but there was still a manner of brightness within them; a spark born of strengthened resolve and grim acceptance despite the weariness and pain that she was surely going through.

"The war is won," she said calmly, that hint of steel underlying her tone. "And the night is gone. Take us home, Police Girl."

Seras grinned widely, ruefully thinking that she was becoming more and more like her Master as the time went by. Imagine that, challenging her own superior! She should have known that Sir Integra _always_ pulled through.

"Yes, Sir, home it is."

A jet-black streak soared high above the smoldering city, leaving a faint, zigzagging path across the cloud that were tinged a myriad of pink, purple and scarlet by the orb of light in the horizon. In a flash, it winked out of sight, leaving the skies over London undisturbed once more.

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* * *

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Integra stood alone in the courtyard of the Hellsing manner, surveying the scenery before her with a detached air. Seras was with the remaining Wild Geese in their barracks, no doubt reminiscing with the men about their lost comrades and leader. The lady Hellsing had visited them earlier to check on the status of the survivors and to ensure that they received the appropriate treatment for their injuries, with what medical supplies they could salvage from the ruined hospital wing. At least those left alive bore no vampyric marks that would cause them to Turn undead; those unfortunate souls had been disposed of the moment after Seras had left for London. The men had been equally concerned about the welfare of their boss and 'mignonette', but Integra had left them to ruminate over their loss after Seras had fashioned a dressing for her head wound. The Draculina had gone through much more with the Wild Geese, and it had not seemed appropriate to intrude into what would be their private memorial for the late Pip Bernadotte and the other men who had perished in the line of fire.

So here she was, standing alone in reflective silence. She still had not changed out of her battle gear, and her longcoat was dusty and brown with drying blood, both hers and her enemies'. The shirt and breeches that she wore were equally battered and dirtied at the edges, though her coat had taken the damage from most of the shrapnel and debris, as well as the splattering blood. Her saber was strapped to her belt, and the Jackal hung in the holster at her side. The outfit, coupled with the crude bandage wrapping over her left eye, made her look like a war veteran.

Yes, the war was indeed over. Integra had to consistently remind herself of that. There was no further need to keep up the pretense of civility with the Knights or the Vatican, no further need to look beyond appearances in every single extermination mission, and no further need to look over herself every moment and wonder if she had done the right thing by ordering her men into a battle that she knew they could not possibly emerge unscathed from. In retrospect, all should have been well, but somehow Integra felt otherwise.

Had they won? Technically they had, for they were the last ones remaining at the very end of the battle, as per the age-old saying that winners are determined by the last man standing. So what was that bitter tang doing on her tongue when she should have tasted the sweetness of her victory, her triumph over those who had dared to stand up to her and her organisation? But she was well aware of the answer deep inside. There was an empty space in her heart that she couldn't ignore nor fill, a black hole of detachment that gaped widely within her, swallowing all her emotions and numbing her to everything. It was as though she had woken up to a world where everything she had taken for granted had disappeared; leaving her to deal with the aftermath in absence of the very things that she couldn't live without, _that she'd never imagined that she couldn't live without_.

Disconcerted, the woman reached into her coat pocket for a cigar, ignoring the bloodstains that tainted the whiteness of her gloves. Maybe a smoke would clear her head and get rid of that dry tastelessness of her victory-that-was-not-quite. She stuck it into her mouth and looked for a lighter.

Integra realised that she did not have a light at the same moment that she felt a slight beckoning coming from the direction of the main gates.

Something was calling out to her. She turned to the gate, and squinted slightly in reaction to the brightness of the sun's rays, which were shinning directly into her eyes. But still she pushed up her glasses and looked on steadily, where she could faintly make out a form coalescing out of gathering wisps of shadows.

The air was still, once again heavy with silence. It was as though everything was muffled and put out of focus, everything but that intangible shape before her that was gradually gaining form. For a moment, time seemed to have frozen, and Integra stood stock still as the shadow motes writhed and pulsed; stretching, extending, splitting and joining until it finally resembled a humanoid figure. A sense of nostalgia washed over her as she felt the back of her neck prickle. It couldn't be cold that she was feeling, not when the sun was shining right into her face and certainly not with that warm, woozy sensation within her that made everything suddenly seem so surreal.

Then he took a step forward. Framed by the fiery sun, he came, past the twisted gates that were the handiwork of the Major's lackeys, swathed in trademark red which flapped wildly in a nonexistent wind, with that hat perched jauntily on his crown of ebony-black hair. His strides were long and loping, like that of a beast, a hunter. He moved with a practiced and languid grace that seemed effortless despite his speed and the distance that he traversed. From afar Integra could already see the marks of her ancestor burning deep red against his pristine white gloves.

And then he was in front of her, staring down with eyes unmasked by his usual shades and grinning that insolent, fanged grin that he only seemed to reserve for her, especially when he was up to some particular mischief. She tilted her head upwards and met his red, red eyes with her own blue. A spark jumped, wills clashed, and sentiments were exchanged without words.

He sank to his knee in a fluid move, bowed his head and clasped a fist to his breast. She in turn drew the Jackal and tapped his head lightly, as a king might do for his knight. Or as a Master might do for her faithful Servant.

She withdrew the weapon, and they stayed like that for a moment; a perfect tableaux illustrating the complexity and depth of their bond. Then Alucard slowly raised his head and Integra placed a hand on his brow. It was he who spoke first this time.

.

"I have returned, Countess."

_._

"Welcome back, Count."

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_**Finis**_

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* * *

**A/N: **The empty space that Integra experiences can be taken in two ways: firstly, in the true spirit of AxI, you could say that she was quite hard-hit by Alucard's disappearance, and the lack of their bond also gave her the feeling that something's missing. On the other hand, in a more realistic light, you could say that she had her whole world of law and order turned upside down within the span of a few hours and she lost quite a few people who were rather important to her; the stress surely takes its toll sometime.

That's the end, folks. This was written while listening to Within Temptation's Our Farewell, which has strangely apt lyrics. And with the power of an overactive imagination vested in me I now dub 'Pale', by the same artists, as Alucard's Imaginary Number Theme.

Incidentally, that last scene there was simply begging for farnart; maybe I'll work on it sometime. Toss a review for the author? -puppycard eyes-

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-Resident Quetz


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